My first job in journalism was with a company that operated exclusively on Mac. As Apple devotees will know, the native PDF reader Preview automatically lets you change files the way you need to and comes standard. It was only when I changed companies and wound up back on a PC using Adobe Acrobat Reader alone that I realised the
special kind of frustration in not being able to change PDFs the way you need to. So it took me a while to work out why PDF Splicer (Tipirneni Software) didn’t seem quite right. It can merge multiple PDF files, split a single file into many; reorder, rotate, extract and delete pages; insert pages from another PDF file; insert blank pages; and insert pages from images on your camera roll. There’s even a very informative intro video offered on Vimeo to explain the many features. It’s actually really good, works well and, for $5.49, is very reasonably priced for such a useful business tool – a total keeper. So what is it about the app that makes me cringe? It has a clear business-focused market, but the graphics are more like a low-budget arcade game. It’s a total books and covers situation – great product, ugly as hell for iOS 5.0 or later.

AFR rating: 4.5/5

If PDF Splicer is the smart girl covered in piercings and all gothed-out then SignNow (SignNow/Barracuda Networks) is the sister wearing normal make-up and a suit. I have tried many apps that help you sign documents on a tablet and they’re generally fine. I mean, they do what you need, and I’ve never had them rejected by an official channel because the signature was “computery” or anything, but they generally have a distinctive “I signed this with my finger on a tablet” quality to them. SignNow does not. It looks like a real pen, and you can save your signature and place it on any PDF document saved on your device. It might be weird but I see true beauty in functional ­well-designed software. The only drawback (but it was a big one for me) was that I was unable to save my signature to a Word document. It would be so useful to save a pro-forma, easily alterable document that you have to sign all the time. As it is, I have to use multiple apps to achieve it – First World problems, am I right? This is free for consumers but you can only use it to fill in five documents a month. It costs up to $109.99 a year if you’re a business user. It comes with some company-friendly frills and is Apple and Android friendly.

AFR rating: 4.5/5

Documents by Readdle: it’s free.

Unlike the previous two apps, which are more or less self-explanatory, it took me a while to get my head around Documents by Readdle
(Readdle). It’s a document management app and that sounds simple enough, but when you look at the features you realise it’s a bit more than that too. Yes, it will store your PDFs and allow basic annotation. It also stores and plays media files – so it’s a lot more bang for your buck. . . if it cost a buck. It doesn’t, it’s free. And it works beautifully. It can sync with Dropbox, iCloud, Box, SkyDrive and a bunch more. Weirdly it can’t play avi files but was perfect for many others.